Linux and Unix use CUPS as a print server. One limitation is that CUPS cannot set individual quotas directly. However, its per-user and per-group allow/deny features can be adapted to work similarly to quotas. Page counting for Windows clients may be inaccurate because of communication issues between Windows clients and CUPS. Setting a CUPS print server quota This method enforces the same limits for everyone using lpadmin. job-quota-period specifies the time period in seconds (one day = 86400), job-k-limit specifies total data size in KBytes, and job-page-limit specifies the total number of pages. To limit printer1 to a total of 5 MB in one day:

lpadmin -p printer1 -o job-quota-period=86400 -o job-k-limit=5120

To limit printer2 to a total of 200 pages in one day:

lpadmin -p printer2 -o job-quota-period=604800 -o job-page-limit=200

Setting a user quota in CUPS (print server) This method sets quotas for individual users, with these additional options: -E enables the printer. -v smb://server/printer specifies the sharing method; here, sharing through Samba. -u deny:all,all denies every user and group. -u allow:tum,tum permits only user tum and group tum. For example, set a quota on printer3 for user tum, allowing printing through Samba with a maximum of 10 pages in one day.

lpadmin -p printer3 -E -v smb://server/printer -u deny:all,all -u allow:tum,tum -o job-quota-period=86400 -o job-page-limit=10